Homosexual activists have reacted furiously to AFTAH's blocking of this widely-reported photo of a "gay Marine's" perverted homecoming kiss. Note the little boy standing nearby, circled at right. Click on photo to enlarge.

By Mary Anne Kreitzer, for her Les Femmes blog

Article cited: WorldNetDaily: “Marines ‘Starting to Look Ridiculous’”

Original AFTAH article: “Homosexual Marine Kisses ‘Gay’ Male Lover at Family Homecoming Celebration”

[WND piece:] “Marines ‘starting to look ridiculous’”…Ya think? I happen to have friends with a son-in-law stationed in Hawaii. He and his wife were present at this event so I heard about it several days before seeing the photo. My friend told us the bus came into the hangar with the door away from the families. The soldiers debarked and the families began chanting, “Move that bus! Move that bus!” When the bus moved the soldiers and their families ran over to welcome each other. My friend’s daughter described the clinch. The gay soldier and his homosexual partner ran to each other and the soldier leaped into the other man’s arms straddling him with his legs as is clearly shown in the photo. Soldiers are supposed to refrain from PDA (public display of affection) while in uniform, but at homecomings there is some leniency. (A little too much in this case.)

Interesting that my friend said her daughter described the rather restrained welcomes of the normal families. (In other words no full body hugs pressing private parts together.) Keep in mind there were lots of children present. But as the World Net Daily article points out, no one can say one word against this privileged behavior. After all, it’s a new “gay” military world. Let the sodomy in the barracks begin.

Dr. Patrick Wooden, Sr., says the Southern Poverty Law Center is losing credibility by smearing pro-family groups opposed to the homosexual activist movement as "hate groups."

This is Part One of my interview [click HERE to listen] with Dr. Patrick Wooden, pastor at Upper Room Church of God in Christ, in Raleigh, NC. This interview was pre-recorded and aired January 14, 2012. Pastor Wooden will be leading a contingent of African American pastors at an AFTAH-sponsored press conference Tuesday, Jan. 17 outside of the headquarters of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL. The SPLC infamously labeled Americans For Truth and several other Christian pro-family groups as “hate groups” due to their strong opposition to the homosexual activist lobby. (Other groups smeared by the SPLC include Family Research Council, American Family Association and Scott Lively’s Abiding Truth Ministries.)

Wooden is a leader in the effort to preserve the definition of marriage constitutionally in North Carolina as one man, one woman — and he is regularly tarred as a “bigot” and “homophobe” by homosexual activists in his state. Here he debunks the LGBT analogy of “gay rights” to Black civil rights — affirming that there is no connection between “my beautiful blackness” and deviant sexual behavior condemned by God. (Last year, Wooden interviewed me at his church in Raleigh; go HERE and click link for the video, “Fighting Homosexuality in America.”) – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Real Player is not supported and there may be difficulty when attempting to listen with it.  Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

1-14-12, Patrick Wooden, Part One

Below is a redacted copy of President Barack Obama’s Campaign 2012 Tumblr page celebrating another tragic “first” for his Administration: the traditional Naval ”first kiss” following a ship’s return to port occurred Dec. 21 between two women – as opposed to the normal and natural male-female spousal kiss.  The AP photo below (covered up here by AFTAH for the sake of decency) appeared worldwide, and Obama reposted it along with a portion of the story as it appeared in the British newspaper The Guardian. As you can read in the (typically one-sided) AP story, David Bauer, commanding office of the USS Oak Hill, was in cahoots with this homosexuals-in-the-military promotional stunt, telling AP that the crew was fine with the lesbians’ selection. Said Bauer of the publicly perverse kiss: “It’s going to happen and the crew’s going to enjoy it.” (That’s an order!)

It must be remembered that despite Western modernists’ curious obsession with homosexuality, this lesbian kiss is indecent by historic moral and religious (Judeo-Christian) standards. We are tempted to say Shame on the President, but it is all too obvious by now that this Commander-in-Chief sees no shame in celebrating sexual deviance (sin) – even open displays like this. (Obama infamously pooh-poohed a New Testament passage in Romans that clearly proscribes lesbianism and male homosexual acts.) Liberals cannot rewrite the moral code nor can they redefine decency to accommodate anything-goes sexuality.

Now Obama and the Democrats have ensured that wherever public displays of affection between married spouses and boyfriends-and-girlfriends occur, indecent spectacles like this will be in close proximity. Military moms and dads: be prepared to block the eyes of your little ones at reunions and all formerly wholesome military functions. Should God Bless this America?– Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

Obama Tumblr entry acclaims the first-ever lesbian "first kiss" in the Navy. Traditionally in American cullture, open displays of homosexual behavior, a perversion, have been considered indecent. Here we have placed a box over the AP photo, which was widely published.

Scott Lively addressing the AFTAH banquet in October. Lively received AFTAH's "Americans Truth Teller" award for 2011.

Part Five of the AFTAH interview [click HERE to listen] with Scott Lively of Defending the Family International.  This was pre-recorded and aired Dec. 3, 2011. Go to the AFTAH Radio Hour Archive for the rest of this very informative interview. In the course of AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera’s interview with Lively, the two discussed:

• The dire state of the American Christian Church vis-a-vis the aggressive movement to normalize homosexual behavior and gender confusion in the culture;
• The “terror” tactics and aggressive campaigns used by homosexual activists to intimidate good people into silence on this issue;
• Lively’s personal experience with the dirty tactics and lies used by radical LGBT activists against pro-family leaders attempting to stop the “gay” revolution (including one notorious fake “anti-gay hate crime” in Oregon). Lively more than almost any pro-family conservative alive today has experienced these tactics firsthand in more than 20 years of working on the front lines (here and abroad) against the homosexualist agenda;
• The futility of relying on politics and the courts to contain the advance of government-backed homosexuality — and how many “ministry-minded” or apathetic believers are woefully naive about the Culture War raging on this issue;
• The campaign of lies used by pro-homosexual militants (and repeated by the media) to smear Lively and others as allegedly supporting the murder of homosexuals in Uganda;
• The corruption of words by the pro-homosexual Left, including “gay,” “sexual orientation” and “marriage equality”;
• The appearance of PRO-homosexuality “evangelicals” like Grove City College’s Warren Throckmorton and Chicago’s Andrew Marin – who confuse Christians and undermine biblical truth on the issue by capitulating to pro-”gay” ideology and semantics;
• The connection of homosexuality and sexual deviance to the Nazi Party in Germany. (See Lively’s book, The Pink Swastika);
• The very real threat to religious liberty posed by the tremendous rise of homosexual (“gay”) power in the United States.

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Real Player is not supported and there may be difficulty when attempting to listen with it.  Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

12-3-11, Scott Lively, Part Five

Prof. Ken Howell

This is Part One of AFTAH’s interview with Professor Ken Howell, Senior Fellow at the School of Catholic Thought of the John Paul II Newman Center, which resides at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).  Prof. Howell was fired (and the reinstated) by the University of Illinois (Champaign) last year for teaching the Catholic “Natural Moral Law” understanding of homosexuality. This interview was pre-recorded and aired Nov. 5, 2011. Howell explains the circumstances surrounding his firing, and how he ended up at UIC (but not actually teaching for UIC).

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Real Player is not supported and there may be difficulty when attempting to listen with it.  Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

11-5-11, Ken Howell, Part One

Scott Lively

The following is Part Three of my interview with Scott Lively, who received AFTAH’s 2011 “American Truth Teller Award.” This pre-recorded interview aired October 29, 2011. Lively is the founder of Defend the Family International, and a longtime pro-family activist battling the pro-homosexual agenda. Go HERE for Part One and HERE for Part Two of the Lively interview. There will be a Part Four of this interview dealing with Lively’s “Pink Swastika” research on homosexual influence in Nazi Germany. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Real Player is not supported and there may be difficulty when attempting to listen with it.  Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

10-29-11, Scott Lively, Part Three

Click on graphic to enlarge. Homosexual web activist website "All Out" lobbies PayPal to drop AFTAH and other pro-family groups as alleged "anti-LGBT extremists." The petition reads, "PayPal must act immediately to shut down their accounts and ban all sites that promote anti-LGBT hate."

TAKE ACTION NOW: a new homosexual web campaign is urging the internet payment company PayPal to drop AFTAH and other pro-family organizations as so-called “extremists” that “promote anti-LGBT hate.” Please help defend Americans For Truth from being dropped by PayPal in response to this anti-Christian pressure campaign.

1) Go to PayPal’s website and make a much-needed gift to AFTAH to support our work. Or do so through the AFTAH website at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/. Mail a check to AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522.

2) Write or call PayPal and urge them to STAND FOR FREEDOM and NOT give in to this intolerant pressure campaign by homosexual activists; use PayPal’s online “Comment Card” HERE, or post a note to the PayPal blog.  Or use their Contact Page HERE (note, the latter seems to favor comments by people holding a PayPal account).  Here is the Contact Page for PayPal’s parent company, e-BAY Inc.

Please THANK PayPal for initially siding with religious freedom so far [as reported HERE by the homosexual website Pink News] and not abruptly caving to All Out’s demands.  Urge them NOT to punish Christian and pro-family advocates – which could potentially alienate millions of potential PayPal customers.

3) Also, sign the LifeSiteNews petition to PayPal defending AFTAH and other pro-family targets by going here: http://www.profamilyfreedom.net/

4) Send this message to your friends and contact list to educate them on the anti-Christian and censorious nature of the homosexual movement. “Gay” activists no longer want “Tolerance”; now they want Dominance even if it means smearing pro-family people as “haters” and destroying our cherished religious freedoms.  

__________________________________________

By Peter LaBarbera

Dear AFTAH Reader,

Every day brings more evidence that the Homosexual Lobby is all about kicking pro-morality people (mostly committed Christians) who disagree with homosexual behavior OUT of the public square. More and more observers are seeing this for what it is: homo-fascism. Last week we learned of a homosexual web campaign called “All Out” that is targeting the payment service company PayPal for doing business with Americans For Truth and nine other groups — which it smears as ”extremists” who “promote anti-LGBT “hate.” Here is the wording of their All Out petition:

PAYPAL: END THE ONLINE HATE TRADE
Tell PayPal: Put Hate Out of Business

“PayPal officially states that its users ‘may not use the PayPal service for activities that [...] promote hate, violence, racial intolerance’ but PayPal has become a favorite payment service for anti-LGBT extremists all over the world. PayPal must act immediately to shut down their accounts and ban all sites that promote anti-LGBT hate.”

In an adjoining article, the grammatically-challenged All Out writes:

Thanks to PayPal, its [sic] easier than ever to send and receive money across currencies and continents – but it is also PayPal’s responsibility to make sure this technology doesn’t fall in the wrong hands. Anti-LGBT extremists all over the world are currently using PayPal to fundraise for their dangerous cause.

Not only is it against PayPal’s rules to promote promote [sic] “hate, violence, [and] racial intolerance,” hate groups also damage PayPal’s brand and credibility. We ask that PayPal join the fight against online hate and immediately shut down the accounts of anti-LGBT extremist groups using the service.

Already, All Out boasts that 35,000 people have sent web-generated letters to PayPal using All Out’s user-friendly web form. Among the other targeted groups beside AFTAH are Scott Lively’s Abiding Truth Ministries [Lively will be a speaker at AFTAH’s banquet outside Chicago on Oct. 15^th] and the Catholic group Tradition, Family, and Property. Also on the list is Brazilian expatriate and pro-family hero Julio Severo [Julio’s blog is written in Portuguese].

Here is All Out’s description of AFTAH:

Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (United States): This groups [sic] claims homosexuality is a “lethal behavior addiction,” a “dangerous” practice that is “neither normal nor benign.” 

PayPal cites religious freedom but takes complaints

The British “gay” website Pink News reports that in response to All Out’s pressure campaign, PayPal is declining to immediately revoke the pro-family groups’ payment accounts on the grounds of religious freedom:

“PayPal does not allow the use of its service for activities that promote hatred, violence or racial intolerance. We take very seriously any cases where a user has incited hatred, violence or intolerance because of a person’s sexual orientation.

“However, we also take into account the rights of free speech and freedom of religion. Balancing these conflicting rights is often difficult, and so we assess possible infringements objectively against our Acceptable Use Policy.

Pink News reports this continuation of the statement by PayPal – made more ominous by the fact that both AFTAH and Severo have already received e-mails from PayPal requesting more information about their accounts:

“While we can’t comment on any specific accounts because of customer confidentiality, we regularly review organizations and websites that use our service, and stop working with those that break our Acceptable Use Policy. We also enable people to report suspected breaches of this policy on our website.”

AFTAH will be following this story closely, and we are grateful that the pro-family news site LifeSiteNews is launching an online petition campaign of its own, www.ProFamilyFreedom.net, to defend Americans For Truth and the other targeted organizations against this homosexual pressure campaign.

______________________________

Facts and thoughts on this latest homosexual intimidation campaign:

1) Homosexual activists are doing all they can to push Bible-believing Christians and moral-minded people who believe homosexuality is wrong OUT of the public square;

2) “Gay” militants are in the vanguard of the Left’s war on biblical Christianity and religious freedom in the United States.  By labeling Christians as “haters,” they cruelly demonize people of faith – and encourage the outrageous idea that longstanding Christian and Bible-based beliefs are “extreme” and beyond the pale;

3) One of the tactics that homosexual militants are using is to pressure corporations and politicians to distance themselves from allegedly “hateful” groups (read: groups that rightly condemn homosexual practice as sinful or disordered — yet changeable — behavior);

4) Encouraged by media sycophancy and a lack of press accountability that feeds their success, homosexual militants are now working overtime to sell the public on the absurd notion that groups like AFTAH that adhere to traditional, biblical teachings on homosexuality are the hateful equivalents of racist fringe groups like the KKK or Neo-Nazis. This propaganda tactic gained significant traction when the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center – long known for exposing racist hate groups like the Klan – last year labeled AFTAH and other mainstream pro-family groups like the Family Research Council “hate” groups;

5) Predicated on such spurious analogies, the current “All Out” campaign against PayPal claims that groups like AFTAH foment violence against homosexuals. However, Americans For Truth has from its inception condemned violence and (real) hatred against homosexuals. We believe Christians should reach out to homosexuals with the Gospel truth, in the love of Christ. We believe that ALL people have dignity as human beings, but that persons should not be defined by immoral, unnatural – and changeable — sexual and gender behaviors;

6) AFTAH has condemned unbiblical and nasty messages like Fred Phelps’ (Westboro Baptist Church) “God Hates Fags.” And we have noted the contrast between Christians, who encourage men and women to abandon the homosexual lifestyle (as so many have) and “fundamentalist” Muslims who advocate the death penalty for homosexuals. (Not all Muslims hold this view.)

7) It is no longer advisable to laugh off, dismiss or ignore the activist homosexual/liberal lobby’s escalating campaign to demonize Christians and punish groups like Americans For Truth. That is because everyday Americans are being influenced by the liberal media, which enable groups like the SPLC and All Out by failing to call into question their preposterous analogies, lies and hateful smears against Christians. We must fight back with the Truth and engage our politically enemies in a dogged, “house-to-house” battle to preserve our liberties and our ability to operate freely in the public square. To do so, contact PayPal and see the “Take Action” steps at the top of this article.

Thank you for standing with Americans For Truth. God bless you.

 – Peter LaBarbera (americansfortruth@gmail.com)

Illinois Department of Employment Security document affirming that Matt Barber was NOT fired for misconduct at Allstate Insurance Co. It states that Allstate fired Barber "because AN OUTSIDE ORGANIZATION HAD COMPLAINED ABOUT AN ARTICLE HE HAD WRITTEN WHILE ON HIS OWN TIME." Click on graphic to enlarge.

By Peter LaBarbera

Below is a longer version of an article I posted in Facebook responding to homosexual activist Alvin McEwen, who repeated an oft-used bit of “gay” misinformation about Allstate’s 2005 firing of pro-family advocate Matt Barber. (Barber sits on the Americans For Truth Board, is Associate Dean at Liberty University School of Law, and is Director of Cultural Affairs for the Liberty Counsel.) Alvin is a bitter fellow who — although purporting to factually correct alleged pro-family falsehoods — regularly dishes them out himself (go HERE to see him viciously slander me as “Porno Pete”). In posting a response to an AFA column by pro-family writer Jerry Newcombe (reprinted at bottom), McEwen writes:

Sorry but Mr. Newcombe is inaccurate about one part. Matt Barber used his company’s computer AND identified himself as an employee of the company [Allstate] in his column. That’s why he was fired.

Funny how I heard these same spurious “talking points” about Matt Barber’s firing from the mouth of Rick Garcia — formerly Illinois’ top homosexual activist before he was ousted by Equality Illinois. We were on a Chicago TV news program together and I was making the point that conservative Christians are now more likely to lose their jobs or face punishment on the job than homosexuals.

Of course, had Matt been a homosexual activist who was abruptly terminated after writing a column on his own time about “gay pride,” the liberal/”gay” outrage would have been through the roof – and Alvin would not be repeating Allstate’s misleading corporate “spin” as he does above.

Following is my correction of Alvin McEwen’s erroneous and tendentious “correction”:

Matt Barber is a good friend of mine, a Christian man of high integrity, and a Board Member for my organization, Americans For Truth. As one living in Illinois who was intricately familiar with Matt’s case, I want to set the record “straight” here and correct the lies that homosexual activists like Alvin McEwen repeatedly spew about his unjust firing.

Homosexual activist Alvin McEwen pushes a lie about the abrupt firing of Matt Barber by Allstate.

Barber was fired after writing a column (which was published by conservative websites) against the homosexual agenda — on his home computer, on a Saturday. He did NOT identify himself as an employee of Allstate, but a third-party blog publisher did so by mistake. A staffer with the homosexual lobby group Human Rights Campaign then “reported” Barber’s web article to Allstate’s HR depart, and Matt immediately was called in on a Friday afternoon. Ironically, he was told that Allstate “celebrates diversity,” and that his (traditional) values did not reflect those of Allstate. Barber was suspended and informed that he likely would be fired for writing the column. He was then escorted by Allstate security guards off the corporate grounds. Monday morning, Barber was canned over the telephone.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security [see graphic above] investigated the firing and found Barber innocent of misconduct; IDES made this judgment (emphasis theirs): “The claimant was discharged from ALLSTATE INS. CO. because AN OUTSIDE ORGANIZATION HAD COMPLAINED ABOUT AN ARTICLE HE HAD WRITTEN WHILE ON HIS OWN TIME.”

Furthermore, even if Barber had used his company laptop for personal use (which he did not), Allstate policy allowed such personal use — especially for employees who traveled frequently, as did Barber.

Barber sued Allstate and as the trial date approached, Allstate frantically contacted Matt’s attorneys and begged for a cash settlement so that the details of his discriminatory firing would not become public.

Needless to say, Allstate had to pay Barber a very significant sum of money to make the embarrassing scandal go away. Had the case gone forward, Allstate’s blatantly anti-Christian (and anti-conservative, anti-family) employment policies would have been exposed. This would have included Allstate’s self-serving lies designed to discredit Barber, which were disseminated to the media — and which Alvin McEwen cynically regurgitates here. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth.

__________________________________

Column by Dr. Jerry Newcombe in AFA “One News Now”:

Must All Our Opinions Be Politically Correct?

By Dr. Jerry Newcombe,
Reprinted from OneNewsNow, 8/25/11

Those were his opinions, although they were not politically correct, and for expressing them, he was canned from the Fortune 500 company.

Thankfully, today, he works as an attorney fighting for religious liberties with the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel.

Liberty Counsel has now defended someone else, who got in trouble for expressing his own opinion, on his own time, with his own computer.

Last year’s “Teacher of the Year” at Mount Dora High School in central Florida (Jerry Buell) was suspended as a teacher because on his Facebook page, he expressed his disapproval of New York’s adoption of same-sex marriage.

Buell has for 22 years had a spotless record. But Chris Patton of Lake County Schools said, “We took the allegations seriously.”

Apparently, the allegations are that Buell is unfit to serve as a teacher in that he doesn’t agree with same-sex “marriage” about which he says (correctly), that it contradicts what the Bible says about marriage.

Patton went on to say, “All teachers are bound by a code of special ethics (and) this is a code ethics violation investigation.”

Buell was amazed at the charges: “It was my own personal comment on my own personal time on my own personal computer in my own personal house, exercising what I believed as a social studies teacher to be my First Amendment rights.”

I guess the First Amendment only applies these days to expressing politically correct opinions. Especially on an issue like same-sex marriage.

Remember Miss California in 2009?

Carrie Prejean appeared on her way to possibly winning the Miss USA pageant, until she made the fateful mistake of expressing a politically incorrect view on same-sex “marriage.”

When asked her views on same-sex marriage, she replied: “Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And, you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that, I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman.”

For that, it would appear she lost out on any chance of winning.

The moral of the story?

If your opinion is politically incorrect — especially on an issue like same-sex “marriage” — you’re best off keeping it to yourself. So much for the sacred right of conscience.

But this is America, and the sacred right of conscience is … well, just that, sacred.

Thomas Jefferson declared, “Almighty God has created the mind free.” Any attempt to force people into opinions they don’t share is wrong. Especially in America. Not that we’ve always gotten it right. But the ideal is great, and we seem to be losing that in our time.

The settlers of this country and the founders highly valued the sacred right of conscience. British North America was first settled by Christian dissidents seeking to worship Christ according to the dictates of conscience.

Dissident Puritan leader, Rev. Roger Williams, who out-Puritaned the Puritans in his goal to be a purist, founded Rhode Island on the premise that it would be a haven for people with various opinions: “I desired … it might be for a shelter for persons distressed for conscience.”

Williams stated, “the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience, is most evidently and lamentably contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus the Prince of Peace.”

In 1648, in their document The American Church Manual, the Puritans wrote, “God alone is Lord of the conscience.”

In 1701, when William Penn founded the colony named in honor of his father (Pennsylvania), he declared in the charter, “Almighty God being the only Lord of Conscience,” therefore, the right of conscience was to be protected.

It’s still protected. You don’t see the Amish being drafted into our military.

In 1776, when Pennsylvania became a state, they stated in A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OR STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, that “no authority” was in any way to interfere with “the right of conscience in the free exercise of religious worship.”

Examples like this from our history abound.

Perhaps some of the greatest affirmations of the sacred right of conscience come from George Washington himself. In 1789, President Washington said to a group representing the United Baptist Churches of Virginia:

“If I could now conceive that the general Government might ever be so administered as to render liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution….”

Why? Because Washington believed “that any man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.”

George Washington and other founders said we must never violate the sacred right of conscience — certainly not for merely holding and stating unpopular opinions.

Thankfully, a positive outcome took place in Florida on the case of the Teacher of the Year on the very day of this writing. He prevailed, as did common sense. But why did he go through the whole ordeal in the first place?

_____________________________

Dr. Jerry Newcombe is the senior producer and host of the television program, “Truth That Transforms with Dr. D. James Kennedy” (formerly “The Coral Ridge Hour”). He has also written or co-written 21 books, including “The Book That Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation.” Jerry co-wrote (with Dr. Peter Lillback) the bestselling, “George Washington’s Sacred Fire.”

We are delighted to announce that Moody Church Senior Pastor and author Dr. Erwin Lutzer will be the keynote speaker at Americans For Truth’s annual banquet Saturday, October 15^th at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, Illinois, northwest of Chicago. Dr. Lutzer is a keen observer of moral and spiritual trends in America and we welcome his insights on the growth of homosexual power in the United States and its effect on our liberties.

Who: Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Senior Pastor, Moody Church, Chicago, Illinois. Pro-family culture warrior Scott Lively will also be honored at the banquet

When: Saturday, October 15, 2011; doors open at 6:00 PM.

Where: Christian Liberty Academy, 502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL 60004, northwest of Chicago; website HERE.

What: Dinner banquet to raise funds for Americans For Truth About Homosexuality. Expect a delicious dinner, wonderful speeches and a contingent of homosexual protesters outside the building chanting lies about AFTAH.

Cost: $10 per person in advance; $20 per person at the door.  Sign up for $10/person online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/; or mail your check to: Americans For Truth, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-552.  RSVP/inquiries to americansfortruth@gmail.com.  Please consider buying extra tickets for your friends, family and co-workers!

Dr. Lutzer: Preacher and Author

For those of you outside Chicagoland and the Midwest who may be unfamiliar with Dr Lutzer, he is a gifted preacher who pastors the historic Moody Church in Chicago (founded by the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody). Lutzer is also the author of numerous books, including: “The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage” (for which Lutzer was branded a “hater” by the Marxist “Gay Liberation Network” in Chicago); “When a Nation Forgets God: 7 lessons we must learn from Nazi Germany”: “Hitler’s Cross”; and “Oprah, Miracles and the New Earth: A Critique.” Here is an Amazon.com link where most of Dr. Lutzer’s books can be purchased.

Dr. Lutzer, who was born in Canada and became an American citzen, has blessed many with his gift for clearly explaining biblical truths. He has a keen grasp on the pivotal ideas and spiritual and cultural developments that decide a nation’s course. And he has the integrity not to compromise on God’s Word even when it becomes politically incorrect. As one who has heard Pastor Lutzer preach on the radio many times (and once at Moody Church), I can safely assure you that you will be blessed by his message and godly counsel for America.

Lower Cost; Buy Bulk Tickets!

We are trying something new for this banquet – lowering the entrance price to just $10/person for advance ticket purchases, and $20/person at the door. We know the economy is rough and we want as many people as possible to attend and hear Dr. Lutzer. So please support us by sharing this event with your network of friends or even buying a table of 10 or 5 tickets so your friends and family can attend. Send queries and RSVPs to americansfortruth@gmail.com.

Scott Lively to be honored

NOTE: We have added a second event with Scott Lively as speaker, Friday, Oct. 14th at 7:00 PM. He will be appearing at Grace Gospel Fellowship church in Bensenville, IL (on Route 83 just north of I-290). This is a FREE event but a freewill offering will be taken to support AFTAH’s work.

As you will know if you have ever attended an Americans For Truth banquet or speaking event, they are very special occasions. Our banquet this year will be made more special by the appearance of Scott Lively (right), a brilliant, veteran Christian culture warrior who has been leading the resistance against the homosexualist juggernaut — in the USA and across the world –  for more than two decades. We will honor Scott, who has suffered greatly for doing good and honoring God and His Truth.

As always, we are grateful to Christian Liberty Academy and Pastor Calvin Lindstrom of the Church of Christian Liberty for their hospitality in graciously offering CLA as the host of Americans For Truth and our annual fund-raising banquet. Please pray for our event and make a much-needed gift to AFTAH even if you cannot make it Oct. 15th. God bless.

Peter LaBarbera

President, Americans For Truth

AFTAH has launched a “Keep the Gay Blood Ban” campaign to oppose the renewed Homosexual Lobby push to end the FDA ban on “men who have had sex with men” giving blood. Cliff Kincaid discusses the extraordinary health risks associated with gay male sex.

The following is excerpted from a presentation by Cliff Kincaid [click HERE to listen; see listening instructions below] at the debut Americans For Truth Academy in August 2010. Kincaid discusses the risks of opening up the blood supply to men practicing homosexuality. The talk by Kincaid — Director of Accuracy in Media’s Center for Investigative Journalism and founder of America’s Survival – is titled, “The Battle over Blood: Gay Health Risks and Public Policy.” He focuses on the homosexual-related health threats to our military and spoke before the law was changed to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military. AFTAH Radio Hour replayed this excerpted speech August 6, 2011.

Order Truth Academy Sets: DVDs of Chicago 2010 or CDs of Columbus 2011 – A DVD-video set of the entire three-day Truth Academy is available for $89 (including postage). Other speakers include: Rena Lindevaldsen, Robert Knight, Matt Barber, Greg Quinlan, Ryan Sorba, Laurie Higgins, Robert Gagnon, Arthur Goldberg and AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera.  Columbus 2011: A CD-audio set of this year’s two-day Truth Academy in Columbus, OH — co-sponsored by Mission America – is also available, for $49 postpaid; speakers include: Lindevaldsen, Quinlan, Barber, Linda Harvey, Gary Glenn, Gagnon, LaBarbera and David Kupelian. Order BOTH Truth Academy sets (the Chicago DVD and the Columbus CD) for a discount price of $129. Send your check and specify your order to AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522; or give online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/ (please use PayPal if possible).

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Do not use Real Player. It is not supported and there may be difficulty when listening with it.  Left click once on the link below to play. (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

8-6-11, Cliff Kincaid

The following is reprinted from PFOX’s (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) website. Greg Quinlan was a presenter at both AFTAH Truth Academies:

I Am a Man

By Greg Quinlan

Why have gay activists instigated media attention over ex-gays and the husband of Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann?

Apparently, Mr. Bachmann, who has a PhD in clinical psychology, operates several counseling centers which also offer services to homosexual clients seeking to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions.  But because even one ex-gay proves that homosexual behavior is not innate or immutable, the gay lobby’s fear of their former members results in false claims and attacks aimed at preventing homosexuals from exercising their right to self-determination. They cannot bear to have even one homosexual leave homosexuality, hence their outrage at Dr. Bachmann.

I know because I am ex-gay myself.  I suffer more harassment as a former homosexual than I ever did as an out and proud homosexual.

The ex-gay community includes thousands of former homosexuals like myself who benefited from counseling.  We did not choose our homosexual feelings, but we did exercise our right to seek help to change those feelings.  As a registered nurse, I saw hundreds of gay men die of AIDS before I finally left the gay lifestyle.

Contrary to the myths being generated by outraged homosexuals, counseling for unwanted same-sex attractions is not prohibited by any medical association.  Unhappy homosexuals are not children in need of parental permission and can freely choose their own therapeutic treatment just like anyone else.

The Bachmann incident demonstrates that as homosexuals gain more civil rights, heterosexuals are losing theirs.  Because gays are a wealthy and politically powerful minority, they claim access to media attention, political power and corporate influence that middle America does not have.

Dependent on the wealth of the gay community for his election and reelection campaigns, President Obama vigorously implements gay, bisexual and transgender policies at every level of the federal government, yet omits the only unpopular status of sexual orientation — that of ex-gay.  But to his credit, Obama refused to cave in to homosexuals when they demanded he remove ex-gay singer Donnie McClurkin from a campaign fundraiser.

President Obama needs to demonstrate that kind of courage once more, and support those who change their sexual orientation as much as he supports those who change their gender. But who will ask him? A jittery media fearful of gay reprisals remain silent, a further testament to homosexual influence and power.

While the media look the other way, the ex-gay community is being harassed and publicly denounced by unforgiving gay activists because of our unpopular sexual orientation.

Wayne Besen of the hate group Truth Wins Out, and other modern day Sauls, stalk and expose ‘out’ ex-gays in a negative light to ensure that they retreat back into the closet.  Lambda Legal supports the establishment of GLBT Centers at public universities but blocks any attempt at ex-gay equal access.  Corporate shareholder resolutions to include ex-gays in anti-discrimination policies are repeatedly defeated by the gay community.

The Human Rights Campaign demands same-sex marriage for gays while fighting ex-gay equality. One of their latest victories is to successfully bully the World Bank into denying funds to ex-gay charities while allowing gay organizations to participate.

Yet ex-gays are not dangerous or deluded as homosexual extremists charge.  We are the National Education Association’s Ex-Gay Educators Caucus.  We are Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, which successfully sued the District of Columbia government for refusing to recognize former homosexuals in its sexual orientation protections.  We are your doctors, teachers, ministers, family, and neighbors.

The American Psychological Association adheres to a code of ethics which calls on their members to respect a person’s right to self-determination.  Therefore the only question about the Dr. Bachmann news is this:  Should homosexuals have the right to determine heterosexuality?  That is, if a gay man decides he wants to live as a healthy heterosexual, as I decided, should homosexuals have the right to veto that decision?

The answer will determine if America is to be ruled by a politically powerful minority like the gay community, or if equality and justice for all will prevail.  As for me, I long to live in an America where my friends and I are not hounded by gay activists because I chose to change from gay to straight.

###

Greg Quinlan is President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays and Executive Director of Equality and Justice For All.

http://pfox-exgays.blogspot.com/2011/07/michelle-bachman-and-ex-gays.html

Frank Turek

Editor’s Note/Correction: our original story labeled Frank Turek as an “employee” of Cisco Systems. Turek was in fact a vendor with Cisco (with high marks for his performance). Thus he lacked the protections of an actual employee. This does not detract from the main story of Cisco’s hypocrisy and anti-Christian bigotry (we call it homo-fascism), which led Turek to be fired abruptly for his private, pro-traditional-marriage advocacy — by a company that champions “diversity.”  — Peter LaBarbera

_________________________________

Below is a reprint of a Townhall.com column by Christian apologist Frank Turek, an eloquent defender of natural (i.e., real) marriage – who was recently fired as a vendor by Cisco Systems (408-526-4000) due to his off-the-job, pro-family advocacy. Turek’s sudden firing was instigated by a homosexual fellow-employee at Cisco who — acting like a homo-fascist — turned in Turek to the Cisco authorities (actually an HR exec), despite the latter’s stellar and completely professional work record.

Conservative columnist Mike Adams has written three terrific pieces about “diversity”-touting Cisco’s outrageous action. (Read them in order HERE, HERE and HERE.) Needless to say, if Turek were a practicing homosexual who had been canned, this would be a huge media story and Cisco would be contracting with the services of GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).

I have never met Mr. Turek – I’ve only read some of his excellent columns – but I gather that he is a compassionate man who models the Christian ideal of speaking the Truth boldly, in love. One reason I deduce this is that while attending (undercover) the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force “Creating Change” meeting earlier this year, I listened as a homosexual activist described (to a room full of fellow “gay” activists) a church talk given by Turek that he had attended as a critic. The homosexual advocate described Turek’s presentation and demeanor as kind and bereft of malice. This particular LGBT activist works diligently to convert Christians to a pro-“gay rights” mindset, and yet – even as he opposed Turek’s ideas – he found no hatred for homosexuals in the man. (You can buy Turek’s book, “Correct, Not Politically Correct: How Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Hurts Everyone” HERE; and watch him debate atheist Christopher Hitchens HERE; also see Turek’s outstanding Christian youth site here: http://crossexamined.org/.)

The bottom line for Christians and opponents of homosexuality who are not silent about their moral beliefs? If it’s OK to fire Frank Turek merely because he disagrees with homosexuality and “same-sex marriage,” then you, too, are vulnerable. Christians and all defenders of sexual normalcy: we have no other choice but to fight back against the emerging liberal homo-fascism — unless you are content to live as a muted serf in the land of the “free.” – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org 

Write Cisco here:

Mr. John Chambers
Office of the President
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Mail Stop SJC10/5/4
300 East Tasman Drive
San Jose, California 95134

Phone: 408-526-4000; hit “0″ for operator

________________________________________

Frank Turek’s column in Townhall: 

Sex at Work?

6/28/2011  Townhall.com

Are you supposed to have sex at work? I guess it depends on your profession, but for most of us the answer is “no.” Why then is corporate America obsessed with training about sex?

As described in several recent columns by Mike Adams, I was fired as a vendor by Cisco for my conservative beliefs about sex and marriage even though my beliefs were never expressed on the job. When a homosexual manager found out on the Internet that I had authored a book giving evidence that maintaining our current marriage laws would be best for society, he couldn’t tolerate me and requested I be fired. An HR executive canned me within hours without ever speaking to me. This happened despite the fact that the leadership and teambuilding programs I led always received high marks (even from the homosexual manager!).

How could an experienced HR professional commit such a blatant act of discrimination unless the Cisco culture was decidedly tilted left? Why didn’t Cisco’s relentless emphasis and training on “inclusion and diversity” serve to prevent this? Maybe it’s because “inclusion and diversity” means something different to corporate elites than to normal Americans. That’s why their training didn’t prevent the problem but actually created an environment of intolerance that led to the problem.

Cisco’s chief “Inclusion and Diversity” officer, Ms. Marilyn Nagel, had trouble on the phone defining what “inclusion and diversity” actually means at Cisco, so she sent me several links from the Cisco website. As in our conversation, I found no specific definition on the website but plenty of platitudes, such as Cisco is committed to “valuing and encouraging different perspectives, styles, thoughts, and ideas.”

If that’s the case, then why not value my “perspectives, styles, thoughts and ideas?”

Because only certain perspectives, styles, thoughts and ideas are approved, you see. “Inclusion and diversity” to corporate elites actually means exclusion for those that don’t agree with the approved views. Whoops, there goes “diversity.”

Shouldn’t the real intent of Cisco’s value of “inclusion and diversity” be to ensure that people in that diverse workforce work together cordially and professionally even when they inevitably disagree on certain political, moral or religious questions? It would seem so. In a large multicultural workforce, people need to work together despite political or religious differences. That’s a noble and necessary goal. It’s totalitarian, however, to subject people to “diversity” training and corporate sponsorships that go beyond teaching respect for people to advocacy of what they do in bed.

All employees should treat one another with kindness and respect because they are fellow human beings, not because of their sexual behavior. If people are to be respected simply on the basis of their behavior, then none of us qualify for respect because we have all behaved badly on occasion.

So instead of trying to force all employees to accept any sexual behavior—especially something as controversial as homosexuality—the inclusion and diversity police should be urging us to treat all people with respect simply because we are human beings. That’s all you need to be productive at work anyway.

But as soon as you start telling people from different religious and cultural backgrounds what they must think about homosexuality, you will offend and create conflict andr resentment. As a Christian, I am commanded to respect all people. That’s what I was doing at Cisco. But don’t tell me that I have to respect and celebrate what people do in bed. Don’t tell me that I must violate my conscience or my God in order to make widgets. That’s not only immoral and un-American; it’s manipulative and stupid. How does accepting homosexual behavior have anything to do with job productivity? Are we supposed to have sex at work?

There simply is no business reason to judge my beliefs about sexual behavior or anyone else’s. And even if some corporate nanny could dream up a reason, it would not justify the assault on an employee’s conscience or religion.

Notice that Cisco did not have a problem with my behavior. My job performance was deemed excellent, and I was “inclusive and diverse” by working in a respectful manner with people of all moral, religious and political views.

Cisco had a problem with my thoughts. Although I certainly accepted homosexuals, I committed the thought crime of disagreeing with homosexual behavior and homosexual political goals. So despite all their talk about “inclusion and diversity,” Cisco deemed my thoughts about something irrelevant to the workplace as grounds for immediate exclusion. Do you think they would have excluded me if I had pro-same-sex marriage thoughts? Of course not—that’s an approved view that Cisco actually sponsors (even though they deny it).

But people who don’t accept homosexual behavior don’t have to work at Cisco then!

True, they don’t. But if Cisco or any other company wants to make it a requirement that every employee and vendor personally accept the behavior of homosexuality or homosexual political goals such as same-sex marriage, then tell us directly. Broadcast it to the world. Cisco can’t and won’t because such a requirement would be a clear violation of the religious protections codified in the Civil Rights Act, and it would result in a mass exodus of employees and customers.

Instead, they create an oppressive culture of political correctness under the false banner of “inclusion and diversity” to achieve the same ends. They tell the world that they value and encourage “different perspectives, styles, thoughts, and ideas” while they punish or intimidate into silence people who have “different perspectives, styles, thoughts, and ideas.” While Cisco executives would never admit this, their actions reveal this twisted truth: Cisco values homosexual behavior more than honesty, freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.

Is it the same at your workplace? Are you tired of having to hide your conservative or religious beliefs as if you live in a totalitarian state rather than America? If you continue to cower in silence before an intolerant militant minority, it will only get worse. To paraphrase Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing.” It’s time to do something—speak up.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry

Gary Glenn, Executive Director or American Family Association of Michigan, wrote yesterday:

Friends,
 
I was disappointed to learn today that Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, in 2001 signed homosexual activists’ so-called “hate crimes” legislation into law in that state.
 
As with the federal law signed by President Obama, the Texas statute signed by Perry establishes special “protected class” status under law, including enhanced sentencing for crimes allegedly motivated by bias against it, expressly on the basis of so-called “sexual preference” (homosexual behavior).
 
As lead plaintiff in a federal civil rights lawsuit (http://bit.ly/ilz0mP) asking the courts to declare the Obama-signed law an unconstitutional and chilling violation of religious free speech rights, honesty requires that I be equally critical of Gov. Perry for signing into law the exact same type of legislation, which — it’s clear from the enforcement record of such laws in Europe and Canada — poses the greatest single threat to religious free speech rights in America today.
 
Thus, if Perry were to become the Republican nominee for president, both major presidential candidates would be on record as having signed into law what is arguably the most dangerous element of homosexual activists’ political agenda, which we routinely characterize — when criticizing Obama and other Democrats who advocate it — as threatening to result in the criminalization of Christianity.  It poses no less a threat to religious freedom if signed into law by a Republican.
 
Gary Glenn, President
American Family Association of Michigan
989-835-7978
 
———————————————————-
 
Office of the Governor
 
“As the Governor of our diverse state, in all matters it is my desire to seek common ground for the common good.  In the end, we are all Texans and we must be united as we walk together into the future. That’s why today I have signed House Bill 587 into law. Texas has always been a tough-on-crime state.  With my signature today, Texas now has stronger criminal penalties against crime motivated by hate.”
 
– Gov. Rick Perry, bill-signing ceremony, May 11, 2001
 
http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/10595/

 
—————————————————————————-

Analysis by Equality Texas
(homosexual activist group)

2001 – 77th Session

House Bill 587 – (James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act)

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=77R&Bill=HB587

Equality Texas position — Yes

* After a 10-year struggle to pass a hate crimes bill in Texas, success was finally achieved with the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act. A bill might have been passed more quickly, but various allied communities, in particular communities of color, insisted that any hate crimes bill must include sexual orientation. Such solidarity was clearly rewarded and is a model for future progress.

* Equality Texas (as the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas) strongly supported passage of the Act.

http://www.equalitytexas.org/content.aspx?id=569

———————————————————-

Text of House Bill 587 (2001) signed into law by Gov. Perry
 
“In the punishment phase of the trial of an offense under Title 5, Penal Code…if the court determines that the defendant intentionally selected the victim primarily because of the defendant’s bias or prejudice against a group, the court shall make an affirmative finding of that fact and enter the affirmative finding in the judgment of that case if at the guilt or innocence phase of the trial, the judge or the jury, whichever is the trier of fact, determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally selected the person against whom the offense was committed or intentionally selected property damaged or affected as a result of the offense because of the defendant’s bias or prejudice against a group identified by race, color, disability, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, gender, or sexual preference. …In this article, ‘sexual preference’ has the following meaning only: a preference for heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.”
 
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/77R/billtext/html/HB00587F.htm

Note: it is outrageous that the State of lllinois would even consider FORCING religious adoption agencies (or irreligious agencies, for that matter) to place children in homes that are motherless or fatherless by design. Adults (proudly) practicing homosexuality are not good role models for impressionable children, who need a mom and a dad. (No, the sexes are not  interchangeable.) The new Illinois “Civil Unions” law — rammed through Springfield in a lame-duck session — must be repealed to preserve religious liberty in the Land of Lincoln. ”Exemptions” — even if they are strengthened – won’t preserve freedom.

In the meantime, a new movement has been launched to place an Advisory Referendum on “same-sex marriage” (and “civil unions”) on the Illinois ballot in 2012. Almost 300,000 signatures of Illinos voters must be gathered and turned into the Illlinois Board of Elections by April 2012 to make that happen. To get involved, go to www.DefendMarriageIllinois.org and download a petition and instructions. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org   

______________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     

CONTACT:  Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333; tc@tcpr.net; June 7, 2011                                                                                                                   

Catholic Leaders Take Legal Action Over Risk of Losing Foster Care Services

Catholic Charities in Illinois Seek Remedy for Best Interests of Children, Families

(SPRINGFIELD, IL) Leaders of three Catholic dioceses – the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, Peoria and Joliet – took legal action today as their charities fight to continue their work in serving the best interests of thousands of needy children and families throughout the state.

In March of this year, the Attorney General’s office issued a letter stating that the office “received notice that Catholic Charities … discriminates against Illinois citizens based on race, marital status and sexual orientation” in the provision of foster care and adoption services and demanded that Catholic Charities turn over a wide range of documents in response. The June 1 law authorizing civil unions in Illinois has raised further questions and criticism about Catholic Charities’ longstanding position not to place children for adoption and foster care with non-married couples who live together – regardless of sexual orientation.

This lawsuit, filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court, seeks a declaration that the charities are in full compliance with Illinois law in their current practices and an injunction against further action by Illinois government officials to the contrary. The charities argue both that the Illinois Human Rights Act exempts religious adoption agencies from the provisions relied upon by the Attorney General’s office and that the new Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act includes an express protection for the religious freedom of entities like Catholic Charities.

The charities ask the court to declare that they are legally justified to continue their current practices of working only with married couples and single, non-cohabiting individuals. Civil union couples are free to choose among dozens of other organizations for these services.

“Child welfare advocates know it is in the best interest of Illinois children for Catholic Charities to stay in this business,” said Steven Roach, Executive Director for Catholic Charities in the Springfield Diocese. “It’s tragic that there are people who believe unnecessarily disrupting the lives of thousands of vulnerable children is an acceptable outcome in this situation.”

Catholic Charities have served thousands of children and families with top-quality, nurturing care since 1921 and handle about 20 percent of the cases in Illinois. Charities’ leaders are extremely concerned what will happen with those children and families if they are forced out of this work.

“Religious and faith-based entities need not check their beliefs at the door when providing vital social services for the benefit of needy and vulnerable children and families in Illinois. Catholic Charities has a clear right under Illinois law to pursue its charitable good works in the true spirit of the Gospels and the Sermon on the Mount, faithful to the essential tenets of its Catholic faith. We will advocate strongly to protect Catholic Charities’ continuing its mission of social service,” said Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society, which is representing the charities in the lawsuit.

About the Thomas More Society

Formed in 1997, the Thomas More Society is a national public interest law firm based in Chicago. The Society defends religious liberty, marriage, and the sanctity of human life in courtrooms across the country. For more information, please visit www.thomasmoresociety.org.

###

The following presentation [click HERE to listen] is excerpted from a speech by Liberty University School of Law Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen was made at the Truth Academy in Columbus, Ohio, April 1-2, 2011 — sponsored jointly by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality and Mission America. We aired Prof. Lindevaldsen’s talk (edited down slightly from the original, without the ‘Q&A’ session) on the “Americans For Truth Hour” radio program May 21, 2011. Lindevaldsen discusses the escalating ”gay” activist campaign to establish homosexuality — and same-sex “marriage” – as a “civil right.” She discusses the growing threat to religious and First Amendment freedoms arising from pro-homosexual court rulings and policies. Lindevaldsen explains how President Obama is undermining the Defense of Marriage Act, and warns that religious liberty will suffer a crushing blow if homosexuals receive favored “suspect class” status in the law. NOTE: All of Prof. Lindevaldsen’t excellent presentations at AFTAH’s Truth Academies are available below:

Order Truth Academy Sets: DVDs of Chicago 2010 or CDs of Columbus 2011 – Rena Lindevaldsen has spoken at both of AFTAH’s Truth Academies.  Columbus 2011: A 13-CD AUDIO set of this year’s two-day Truth Academy in Columbus, OH – co-sponsored by Mission America — is available for just $49 postpaid.  This 13-CD set includes the full talk above by Prof. Lindevaldsen, as well as presentations by Greg Quinlan, Matt Barber, Linda Harvey, Gary Glenn, Prof. Rob Gagnon, Peter LaBarbera and WorldNetDaily’s David Kupelian. Chicago 2010: A DVD-video set of the entire three-day Truth Academy — featuring two talks by Rena Lindevaldsen — is available for $89 (including postage). Other Chicago speakers include: Robert Knight, Barber, Quinlan, Ryan Sorba, Laurie Higgins, Gagnon, Arthur Goldberg, Cliff Kincaid and AFTAH President Peter LaBarbera. Double order discount: Order BOTH Truth Academy sets (the Chicago DVD-VIDEO and the Columbus CD-AUDIO) for a discount price of $129 (postage included). Send your check and specify your order to AFTAH, PO Box 5522, Naperville, IL 60567-5522; or give online at www.americansfortruth.com/donate/ (please use PayPal if possible). Send queries to americans

HOW TO LISTEN: This is an mp3 file, supported in most operating systems by Windows Media Player, Quick Time and/or I-Tunes.  Do not use Real Player.  It is not supported and there may be difficulty listening with it.  Left click once on the link below to play.  (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment or two to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download the whole show.

5-21-11, Prof. Rena Lindevaldsen

Pro-family advocates in Chicago rally against the new "Civil Unions" law in Illinois. The bill, HB 1716, was passed in a lame-duck session and ironically called the "Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act" despite the fact that its passage immediately put Illinois citizens' religious and First Amendment liberties in jeopardy. Photo by Lynn Thomas; click to enlarge.

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (www.aftah.org); June 1, 2011

Contact: Peter LaBarbera: 630-717-7631; americansfortruth@gmail.com

CHICAGO–Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality and a principal behind the Illinois Defense of Marriage Initiative (www.DefendMarriageIL.org), issued the following statement on the new Illinois “Civil Unions” law that takes effect today:

Homosexual behavior is always wrong, according to the broad sweep of Judeo-Christian history, so it is tragic to behold the State of Illinois – or any government entity – recognizing immoral same-sex relationships and treating them like marriage. Moreover, for the City of Chicago and Gov. Pat Quinn to celebrate homosexuality with a mass Civil Union ceremony June 2^nd is an act of hubris and defiance toward the Creator that mocks His wonderful plan for real marriage – the sacred union of a man and a woman to produce children and family. The pandering Quinn – epitomizing the modern Democratic politician –mocks his own professed Catholicism by working tirelessly to undermine its clear moral dictates.

The anti-Christian Civil Unions law must be repealed. It was passed in a lame-duck session that once again revealed the contempt that liberal Illinois lawmakers have for the citizens they are supposed to serve. Ironically, shortly after passage of this bill – mischievously titled the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act –religious liberty for Illinois citizens and religious institutions was immediately put in jeopardy. A homosexual male couple targeted Paxton, Illinois, bed-and-breakfast owners Jim and Beth Walder – who now face prosecution by the State because they refuse – as Christians – to hold “civil union” ceremonies celebrating homosexuality on their own business property. And the Rockford Diocese’s Catholic Charities announced that it will halt its state-funded foster care and adoption services rather than be forced by the State of Illinois to place children in same-sex households that are motherless or fatherless by design.

These sad developments in the Land of Lincoln constitute further proof that homosexuality-based “rights” and religious freedom cannot co-exist. “Gay” activism – empowered by Illinois’ “sexual orientation” law and the new Civil Unions law — will drive out the free expression of religion and morality, which must include the right to oppose sexual behavior historically regarded as disordered and sinful. (Thankfully, homosexuality is also changeable, as evidenced by Chicago Christian ex-lesbian Linda Jernigan, who spoke at Friday’s rally launching the Illinois Defense of Marriage Initiative.)  [Upcoming Event Notice: Jernigan will be giving a dinner-lecture at AFTAH's office in Carol Stream, IL, 25W560 Geneva Rd., on Friday, June 17th, on the topic "What's Wrong with 'Gay Pride'?"; e-mail us for more information: americansfortruth@gmail.com.]

Already, there are “conservative, pro-family” defeatists who argue that the radical Civil Unions bill cannot be repealed. It’s funny how “gay” activists never display such timidity. The well-financed Homosexual Lobby sees “Civil Unions” as a mere pathway to full, legalized “same-sex marriage.” We must work diligently to repeal this anti-Christian law, while also collecting 300,000 signatures to put a referendum on “same-sex marriage” on the Illinois ballot in 2012. Also, we will continue to push for House Speaker Mike Madigan to stop blocking a vote on a binding constitutional marriage amendment that will permanently prevent the radical redefinition of marriage in our state.

April 21, 2011 [WARNING: Offensive content in video] 

This man in drag and member of the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" is wearing a shirt that says "Bottom For Jesus" at the sadistic-sex-celebrating Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco in 2007. "Bottom" refers to the receiving position in anal sodomy. Every year on Easter Sunday, the "Sisters" hosts the blasphemous "Hunky Jesus" contest. See video below, and click on photo above to enlarge.

Contact: Peter LaBarbera: americansfortruth@gmail.com  

CHICAGO – This Easter Sunday in San Francisco’s Delores Park, Christianity-spoofing homosexual drag queen “nuns” calling themselves the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” will stage their annual “Hunky Jesus” contest — mocking the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ — as shirtless men in “crucifixion” costumes parade on stage in an atmosphere of haughty, homoerotic humor. 

The profane and shockingly insensitive spectacle illustrates the secular, pro-“gay” Left’s hypocrisy in demanding “respect” for homosexuals and transsexuals — even as they cynically mock Christ and true religion on the holiest day of the year for Christians, says Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH). 

“There’s nothing that delights arrogant, pro-homosexual liberals more than making fun of Bible-believing Christians – as evidenced by this blasphemous Easter ‘contest,’” LaBarbera said. “Of course, it goes without saying that these defiant champions of ‘tolerance and diversity’ wouldn’t dare hold a ‘Hunky Muhammad’ contest during Ramadan — so it seems even envelope-pushing, in-your-face, pro-perversion libertines know their limits. (Muslims: beware: LGBT activists will end up hating you as much as they hate Christians.)” [Watch YouTube below; press release continues after the page jump and video:] 

LaBarbera said the “Hunky Jesus” contest symbolizes the contempt that many homosexual militants have for God and religion. Politically this translates into their growing advocacy of pro-homosexuality laws that use State power to crush Americans’ historic religious and First Amendment liberties – i.e., to reject homosexuality and other immoral, destructive behaviors. 

“Gay activists are out of the closet in their plans to criminalize Christianity insofar as it relates to their particular politically-correct sin,” he said, “One way they do that is by reviling and ridiculing committed Christians and others who oppose homosexuality — portraying them as sociopaths and the heartless equivalent of deranged racists. But the fact that African-Americans now poll strongest against ‘same-sex marriage’ throws a wrench into this evil ‘frame.’” 

LaBarbera said the “Hunky Jesus” contest – despicable as it is — actually is less threatening to Christendom than the escalating campaign by “LGBT” activists to re-define Christianity and other religions as “gay-friendly.” 

“Homosexual political groups are strategizing on how best to persuade evangelicals that supporting pro-homosexuality-laws including ‘same-sex marriage’ is part of the Christian’s duty to ‘love thy neighbor,’” he said. “Who knew that creating a system of superior legal ‘rights’ based on a sin that God’s own Word, the Bible, says is ‘detestable’ was part of the divine plan?! 

“Truth is, the most compassionate thing a Christian can do for people practicing homosexuality is to reach out to them with the Gospel – with an uncompromising ‘tough love’ that says proud homosexuality is never part of God’s plan for anyone’s life. The same Jesus Christ whom the San Francisco liberals mock not only will judge them one day – but He has helped innumerable men and women — like Trace McNutt and Denise Jones — leave homosexuality behind.”

Display by pro-"gay" student group at Lyons Township High School in Illinois celebrates the state's new "civil unions" law. Schools should not become havens of pro-homosexuality advocacy.

TAKE ACTION: Parents and Guardians: Call your children’s middle or high school and ask if students and/or teachers will be permitted to refuse to speak during class on Friday, April 15 (as part of the annual homosexual activist “Day of Silence”). If your administration allows students and/or teachers to refuse to speak during class, call your child out of school on April 15th. Every student absence costs school districts money. See additional instructions below, and go HERE for more help on the ”Day of Silence Walkout” page on the Illinois Family Institute website.

________________________________

Dear AFTAH Readers,

Many Christians and moral-minded people have given up on the public schools, and with good reason. The suffocating political correctness on a host of controversies — including homosexuality — overwhelms the Average Mom and Dad, who are already running ragged between work, family duties, church and youth sports. Add to that the arrogant, dismissive bureaucrats who occupy key positions in many metropolitan schools — and who view complaining parents as an “enemy” of sorts that needs to be kept at bay — and you understand why our schools have devolved into havens for liberal-left indoctrination. (In addition, as more and more Christian parents abandon the public schools, it removes a key wholesome influence restraining evil.)

Despite all this, my friend Laurie Higgins is correct: parents are derelict in “tolerating” their children’s schools’ descent into liberal advocacy. Beyond the critical point that THESE ARE OUR CHILDREN (not the school’s), and we should guide their moral upbringing, there is the fiscal reality (even for those without school-age children) that we as taxpayers should not be subsidizing the use of public schools to foist pro-homosexual propaganda on students.

So we at AFTAH echo the call for parents to pull their kids out of any school that abides the annual homosexual-activist event April 15 called the “Day of Silence.” Please read Laurie’s article below and call your children’s schools (middle and high schools) to see if they are sanctioning this pro-homosexual event. If you have any inkling that they are encouraging this disruptive event, tell the school that you will be keeping your child home that day. In doing so, you will send a powerful message to teachers and administrators that their embrace of pro-homosexual advocacy comes at a price. – Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org

P.S. Please tell us about your encounters with your local schools regarding the “Day of Silence” by sending an e-mail to: americansfortruth@gmail.com.

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Parents, Please Take a Stand: Day of Silence Walkout 2011

By Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute

April, 4, 2011

It is unconscionable that conservative parents remain silent, acquiescent, fearful non-participants in our public schools while homosexuals and their ideological allies engage continuously in vociferous, vigorous, and bold action.

The Day of Silence, which is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), is fewer than two weeks away. GLSEN’s Day of Silence, which began on college campuses and has now infiltrated middle schools, exploits anti-bullying sentiment to undermine the belief that homosexual acts are immoral. GLSEN shamelessly exploits teen suicide in order to create a climate of hysteria which they can then exploit to falsely impute culpability for teen suicide to conservative moral beliefs.

GLSEN’s end game is the eradication of conservative moral beliefs and the creation of a social and political climate in which it is impossible to express them. Their cultural vehicle of choice for this radical social experiment is public education. What a strategic coup for homosexualists: use our money to capture the hearts and minds of our children.

And we do virtually nothing. Our complacence makes us complicit in the damage done to our children and our culture. Moreover, we teach our children by example to be cowardly conformists. It’s time to resist, and there’s no easier way to resist than to call your children out of school on the Day of Silence.

Parents and Guardians: Call your children’s middle and high schools and ask if students and/or teachers will be permitted to refuse to speak during class on Friday, April 15. If your administration allows students and/or teachers to refuse to speak during class, call your child out of school. Every student absence costs school districts money. When administrators refuse to listen to reason and when they allow the classroom to be exploited for political purposes, parents must take action. If they don’t, the politicization of the classroom and curricula will increase.

If your administrator tells you that they do not permit students or teachers to refuse to speak in class, ask him or her how that is communicated to faculty and students.

Here are just a few of the governmental efforts, including proposed legislation, designed to use public schools to normalize homosexuality and Gender Identity Disorder (aka “transgenderism”):

• Ten states now have “enumerated” anti-bullying laws, which specifically include homosexuality and gender confusion as protected classes.
• Comprehensive sex ed curricula portray homosexuality as morally equivalent to heterosexuality.
• California’s SB 48, if passed, will require schools to teach about homosexuality and Gender Identity Disorder positively while censoring dissenting resources.
• Federal Safe Schools Improvement Act denies funding to schools to combat drugs and violence unless they agree to address homosexuality and Gender Identity Disorder.
• Federal Student Non-Discrimination Act includes homosexuality and Gender Identity Disorder as protected classes. If passed, schools would be prohibited from treating the objective biological fact of a student’s sex as if it had objective status. It would render the act of making common sense distinctions between boys and girls illegal.
• “Dear Colleague” Letter, which unconstitutionally expands the control of government over student speech, was sent by the Department of Justice to all school boards.
• The Department of Justice created a video submission to Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” campaign in which federal employees affirm unproven moral propositions about homosexuality to students
• President Obama held an anti-bullying conference at the White House to which he invited representatives from virtually every homosexuality-affirming organizations that seeks to use public education to normalize homosexuality.
• The White House created an anti-bullying website that has a special image link for only one group of students who experience bullying: LGBT students.

And here are the special events concocted by homosexual activist organizations that have wormed their way into public schools, partly because conservatives fail to oppose them with the same vigor that homosexuals promote them:

• No Name-Calling Week sponsored by GLSEN
• Ally Week sponsored by GLSEN
• Spirit Day sponsored by Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
• National Coming Out Day sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
• The Transgender Day of Remembrance sponsored by the HRC

The ACLU has issued this statement to students regarding silence in class:

“You DO have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day. You do NOT have a right to remain silent during class time if a teacher asks you to speak.”

It’s long past time that conservatives start acting and speaking as if we think our moral beliefs are objectively true. Conservative teachers need to create activities that require students to speak on the Day of Silence, and conservative parents need to teach their children by example to take a stand for truth.

Please call your children out of school if your administration permits students or teachers to refuse to speak on the Day of Silence. For further information, including parental instructions and a sample calling out letter, visit www.doswalkout.net.

Display prominently celebrating new Illinois "Civil Unions" law put up by a pro-homosexual student club at Lyons Township High School. Photo: Earl Gough. Click on photo to enlarge.

Dear Readers, each pro-homosexual law makes it easier for school administrators and teachers to allow the one-sided promotion of homosexuality in their school, as occurred recently at Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, Illinois (see photo). The state’s Democrat-dominated General Assembly passed a “Civil Unions” bill in a lame-duck session last year (before a new elected, more conservative legislature could take office) — and Gov. Pat Quinn (D) signed it into law January 31. (The bill, which also allows heterosexual “civil unions,” thus further undermining marriage, takes effect June 1.)

America’s public schools are becoming de facto “Homosexuality-Promotion Zones” — directly undermining the authority of parents to guide their children’s moral upbringing — and subjecting Christian and moral-minded students to one-sided pro-homosexuality propaganda like the above. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org; [Send news about your children's or local schools to americansfortruth@gmail.com.]

Illinois pro-family advocate Earl Gough writes March 7, 2011:

This is one of the reasons my kids no longer attend Lyons Township High School (LTHS) in LaGrange and Western Springs [Illinois].  This and much worse happens there because parents are not involved enough and (sorry) churches do even less.

I was at the South Campus this evening and found this large display (see photo at right) applauding Civil Unions at the front entry of LTHS.

There are 17 suburbs and 25 feeder schools that send their children to this school.  Imagine what influence parents would have if they cared to get involved.  But, because less than 2% (not 10%) of the population is more consistent in pressing this agenda, all of our kids, the majority, have to be subjected to this family-threatening political correctness that is not healthy or in the interest of the general welfare.

Perhaps, with upcoming school board elections [April 5, 2011], this may be good time to discuss this in the public square.  Remember the frog in the kettle?

Earl Gough

Illinois Citizens for Excellence in Education
Brookfield, IL

Apple Inc. has dropped two pro-family "apps" from its iPhone following protest campaigns by homosexual activists.

TAKE ACTION: Contact Apple Inc regarding its open hostility to faith-based customers defending traditional morality and its capitulation to homosexual activists. Call 408-996-1010.

Apple Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-996-1010

By Peter LaBarbera

On Wednesday, Apple Inc. succumbed to a web-based homosexual lobbying blitz demanding that it drop an “app” for the ex-”gay” ministry Exodus International from its iPhone. This capitulation is only the latest to reward a creeping ’homo-fascism’ that is spreading across America and the world — and which is integral to the wider LGBT activist strategy of demonizing and marginalizing religious people opposed to homosexuality. We don’t use this term lightly — the Homosexual Lobby’s hardball strategy is built on lies, intimidation and even bullying of well-meaning, compassionate Christians and religious people who simply disagree with the practice of homosexuality.

Incredibly, a tiny Sexual Sin Lobby–  purporting to represent perhaps 1-2 percent (or less) of any given population — presumes to dictate to the rest of us what is and is not acceptable speech, ideas, and conduct with regard to homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.” (They even claim to be the arbiter of what is ”love” and “hate.”) The failure of the national media — stuck in “gays-as-victims” mode – to question the growing pro-LGBT intolerance, demonization, and oppression of adherents to Judeo-Christian  moral teachings, itself contributes greatly to the persecution of people of faith.

How absurd that in a nation still split on the morality of homosexuality (despite the media’s and Hollywood’s relentless pro-homosexual bias), only groups that encourage the embrace of this unhealthy and unnatural behavior are to be tolerated and receive corporate and government support. Even more ridiculous is the idea of affixing a ”civil rights” label to homosexual militants like ”Truth Wins Out” (TWO) who are devoted to crushing the civil rights and voice of opposing pro-family advocates. Good is evil. Evil is good (Isaiah 5:20). (Click HERE and especially HERE to read TWO’s rationale for opposing the Exodus iPhone app; it is typical of homosexual activist arguments that conflate disagreement with TWO’s pro-homosexual ideology with “hate.”)

Exodus’ ‘niceness’ gets them nowhere

There are some interesting side stories and ironies to this second of two Apple cave-ins to LGBT pressure-campaigns. One is that Exodus International — a leading umbrella group for people desiring to abandon homosexual practice or resist unwanted same-sex desires – has gone out of its way (too far, in our view) NOT to offend homosexual activists. And look where it got them. In fact, a while back Exodus declared that it was disengaging from the ”Culture War” over homosexuality (in favor of ministry pursuits) – yet now it is thrust right back into it. This is a lesson for all naive Christians who think that by somehow sidestepping the cultural battle over homosexuality, it won’t rage on,  with homosexual activists attempting to muzzle the Gospel.

Christians and moral-minded Americans MUST actively defend truth on this issue against the many “gay” lies (even the activist term “gay” is a lie…) — and realize that the end-game of the LGBT movement (not all, but many self-styled “queer” activists) is to shut down critics and alternative voices on this issue – first in the private sector, and then using Government power. Aggressive homo-fascism hates dissent, religious or otherwise. For goodness sake, 31 out of 31 states provided the opportunity have voted down “same-sex marriage,” and yet opposition to same sex marriage is now widely derided as “hate” by all major homosexualist organizations!

What Exodus’ well-intentioned leaders — and millions of “ministry-minded” Christians — do not understand regarding this cultural debate is that no matter how “nice” you are to the likes of TWO, the only thing that counts is that you oppose homosexual behavior. Though Christians must lovingly extend the Gospel of grace and salvation through Jesus Christ to all sexual strugglers, we also must stand against the growing tyranny engendered and envisioned by pro-homosexual militants. The expanding list of victimized Christians [click HERE and HERE] makes clear: our very freedom to act on our beliefs and to preach the full Gospel to all sinners, including people practicing homosexuality, is in danger. (Of course, LGBT activists claim to support religious freedom, but what good is liberty if we cannot publicly proclaim and act upon our historic biblical beliefs about sex, marriage and family?)

Cultural bullies

Far from being victims, the best way to think of name-calling homosexual activists like TWO’s Wayne Besen is as bullies: the more you try to appease them – e.g., by constantly apologizing for alleged “anti-gay hate” in the Church, or adopting the dubious semantics of “gay rights” and “gay” identity (at the expense of biblical fidelity) – the more they sense weakness, leading them to castigate and target you all the more.

A sexual/gender movement built upon the Big Lie that changeable sexual perversion is the basis for: a) a healthy identity; and b) ”civil rights” has zero respect for the religious beliefs and freedoms of citizens committed to God’s Truth. And, of course, any “civil rights” movement that aggressively seeks to deny the civil and religious liberties of others is, well, not a civil rights movement at all.

Truth Wins Out: the real haters

Demonizaton of opponents is critical to the LGBT campaign to push Christians and moral critics of homosexuality out of the cultural debate over homosexuality. Take special note of “Truth Wins Out’s” preposterous characterization of Exodus as “hateful and bigoted.” Any rational observer who compares TWO’s and Exodus’ rhetoric will see who the real “haters” are, and it’s not Exodus. TWO regularly engages in extreme, ad hominem, and blatantly anti-Christian rhetoric. (Wayne Besen proudly came up with the ugly “Porno Pete” smear to tar this writer.) Substituting “gay” ideology for reality, they simply deny the existence of former homosexuals — and then they have the gall to accuse others of “dehumanization.” (Recall that homosexual activists once chanted, “We here, we’re queer, get used to it!”…) TWO actively demonizes anyone who goes public about overcoming homosexuality in their life – and especially mocks those who claim to have done so with the divine help of Christ. (Besen’s snarky attack-slogan for Christian, ex-homosexual overcomers is “Pray Away the Gay.”)

Media enablers

Homosexualist intolerance would not so easily flourish if the “mainstream” (liberal) media were not almost completely sold out to the “gay rights” cause. Too often reporters and editors cater to the left-wing notion that ideas (especially Christian ones) are hateful, as opposed to actual actions and speech that are objectively caustic, hateful and mean-spirited.  The lack of media accountablity enables and empowers homosexual activists’ who employ an end-justifies-the-means rationale to fight and vilify the “haters” — including shutting down their speech.

To be sure, the Gay Thought Police’s penchant for squelching the opposition’s voice isn’t new — over a decade ago homosexual activists led by GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) lobbied major media to deny ads featuring happy ex-”gays” — but there is a special intensity to the current censorship campaign, perhaps due to the media’s suffocating political correctness.

Precious few journalists are willing to call out the Homosexual Lobby on its totalitarian-like, censorious approach to ideas and biblical/religious truths that it does not like, so we must. Christians need to wake up and stay fully engaged in this raging Culture War before it is too late and our freedom to disagree with homosexuality is destroyed.

Fellow advocate of godly morality, please understand this: militants on the homosexual-bisexual-transgender Left hate you enough to shut down your voice anywhere they can. If you value Truth and your constitutional, God-given freedom to defend it, do not let them.

–Peter LaBarbera, www.AFTAH.org; write me at americansfortruth@gmail.com

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The following is reprinted from LifeSiteNews; March 23, 2011; [to sign up for LifeSite's e-News updates, go HERE]

Apple pulls ex-gay app after complaints from gay activists

CUPERTINO, California, March 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Apple has now pulled the iPhone application that caused such a stir this week after the homosexual activist group Truth Wins Out (TWO) complained that it was “hateful and bigoted.”

This marks the second time that Apple has pulled an app because it promoted a traditional Christian view of homosexuality. In November of last year Apple pulled an app created for the Manhattan Declaration, a pro-life and pro-family document signed by nearly 500,000 people. The app was attacked because it opposed same-sex “marriage.”

The recent app, created by the international Christian ex-gay ministry Exodus International and available through Apple’s online iTunes store, originally received a 4+ rating from Apple, meaning that it was found to contain no objectionable content. The app provided a gateway to the ministry’s news, blog, podcasts, and other social networking and resource materials.

Exodus International denied that the app was aimed at “curing” homosexuality, as was claimed by its critics.  “In no way shape or form is our message about trying to cure or do we try to promote that type of methodology or message,” Jeff Buchanan, Exodus International’s Senior Director of Church Equipping & Student Ministries, told The Christian Post.

“This is a label that has been put forth by opponents to the application to serve as propaganda in order to stigmatize and really label the application in a false way and provoking a response such as you are seeing with the application.”

Meanwhile, TWO and Change.org praised Apple for removing the app.  “Apple made a wise and responsible decision to dump an offensive app that demonized gay and lesbian people,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “The real winners today are LGBT youth who are safer and less at risk for receiving Exodus’ malice and misinformation.”

“We’re thrilled that Apple has removed this ‘gay cure’ app from the iTunes store after more than 150,000 people signed this petition,” said Mike Jones, Editor at Change.org, the platform used by TWO to launch the petition. “The message Apple is sending here is clear: there is no place for ‘ex-gay therapy’ on the Apple platform.”

TWO claimed the app “relied on twisting legitimate research” to “dehumanize LGBT people” and by dropping the app, Apple joined the line of “every respected mental health organization in the nation.”
“We are disheartened at the fact that there are activists who are rising up to silence our voice on the Exodus iTunes platform,” Exodus’ Buchanan said on Tuesday. “We want to ask that there would be fair and equal representation of religious belief on this platform.”

“We are helping those who have unwanted same-sex attractions. Those who are gay or identify themselves that way, in no way, shape or form are we trying to speak to their position or trying to impose anything upon them,” he said.  “Exodus believes the opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality. It is holiness. We promote the belief that one can live a life that is congruent with their faith. That is our mission – period.”

Contact:

Apple Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
408.996.1010